To Change the Future DFA 19
by Dyna Dee
Summary: A stranger corners Duo and gives him a mission, one that will not only save one of his friends, but bring about a strange series of events that might also save his own life.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of GW nor it's characters, nor do I profit from it other than having hours of dreaming up stories to share.

To Change the Future

Duo's Friendship Arch.

By: Dyna Dee

Warnings: mild language and a little angst

"Oh shit!" Duo Maxwell muttered in disgust as he glanced at the time when he fastened his watch on his wrist. "Heero's going to kill me." He turned to quickly finish the chore that had taken up so much time that morning; brushing his hair until it was snarl free. He made a mental note that he needed a serious trim as his treasured mane was getting harder and harder to care for.

"Stupid." He berated himself. He'd spent twice as long as usual under the heat light in the ionization shower, trying to dispel some of the perpetual cold he felt in space. "I've gotten use to the warmth of the sun on Earth," he mumbled out loud as he separated his hair into thirds and started his braid. The pulsing, dry ion shower didn't clean his hair as well as a shower of hot, steaming water did, so he ended up spending more time and using most of his water allotment credits that were given to every member of the Peacemillion crew. Now he would have to buy, barter, or win more water credits in a card game of poker in order to wash his hair again this week. That was certainly one aspect of being back in space that he hated. Well okay, spartan water rations and the perpetual cold that was a part of living in space went neck and neck for the title of most hated.

With his braid fastened off, he flung it over his shoulder then looked into his mirror with a critical eye. Absentmindedly, because of daily practice, he quickly and efficiently hid the assortment of lock picks and miniature sheathed and very sharp knives within the thick weaving of his braid. With his traditional priest-like outfit on for the mission ahead and his large pockets fitted with an odd assortment of potentially useful tools just in case of an emergency, he finally felt prepared to leave his room. Slipping on his black leather jacket, he was completely satisfied that he was ready for that morning's battle. With a cocky smile, he saluted his reflection in the mirror, just for good luck, and headed for the door that swished open before him and closed as the motion sensor shut off his lights.

Believing himself to be dead meat for being so late, he raced down the corridor of the spaceship knowing the others, especially Heero, would be unhappy with him. He careened around a corner and nearly collided with some of Howard's men. They chided and teased him in their greeting, then gave him an affectionate, hearty pat on the back. He'd known these guys from when he first went to earth and ended up at Howard's ocean barge and they considered him to be somewhat of a little brother, a deadly little brother. He laughed and joked with them as he walked backwards, hoping not to be waylaid any further. 

He didn't hear the door behind him open as he waved farewell to the other men when they turned to go where ever it was they were headed, but he did feel the strong grip of a hand on his arm as he was effortlessly pulled backwards, stumbling into a room, the door swished shut behind him. He noticed immediately that the motion sensor in this room didn't seem to be working as the lights didn't flash on.

"Hey!" he exclaimed in alarm.

"Duo." An unfamiliar voice called out to him through the darkness. 

"Who are you?" he demanded a bit harshly, feeling the hair on the back of his neck rise in warning.

"A friend," was the gentle reply and then, at the sound of a slight click, the lights flashed on and the Deathscythe pilot blinked in surprise.

"I'm sorry ancient one," Duo said the instant he realized he was standing a few feet in front of an elderly Chinese man. He promptly bowed from the waist as Wufei had taught him to do when meeting a revered elder. As he rose up, his eyes narrowed in scrutiny of the old man that stood surprisingly straight for a man of his advanced years and was dressed in a loose fitting, black outfit that resembled a gi.

The white-haired old man's mouth turned upward slightly as a smiled formed on the aged and wrinkled face. Then, surprisingly, the old man's eyes suddenly became moist with what looked to be a suppressed emotion. The aged, but seemingly wise, dark eyes were framed above by trim white eyebrows and deep crow's feet at the side that were no doubt earned from advance aging. "Duo, my friend." The man's firm but slightly crippled with arthritis hand grasped hold of his shoulder and gave it a friendly squeeze, a hint of joy showing in his smooth but weathered face.

The braided boy tilted his head in puzzlement as he studied the man in front of him. He was sure he'd never met him before, nor seen him on the Peacemillion during his stay. But somehow he seemed......familiar.

"I've come a long way to see you, Duo." The dark eyes studied the amethyst ones in return, studying the boy with a look of fondness and affection and looking for some sign of recognition. Then suddenly, a wave of emotion seemed to ripple through the old man and his former smile faded into a look of sadness or grief. His body bent slightly and his shoulders began to shake as he sucked in his lower lip in an attempt to hold back the emotion that had evidently was unexpected and had surprised him.

The teenager saw the old man begin to break down and was suddenly concerned for him. "Oh man, are you okay?" He asked and reached out to take hold of the old one's arm in an attempt to aid him. "Can I call someone for you?" He was surprised at the speed of the old man when he suddenly found himself firmly embraced by the deceptively frail-looking arms. Duo could feel the man's body trembling against his own.

The young pilot's wide, shocked eyes stared over the man's shoulder, and then he did the only thing he could think of; he brought his arms up and patted the distressed man on the back in a comforting manner. "It's okay," he said soothingly, not knowing what else to say, but continued anyway. "I don't know what's wrong, but maybe I can help," he offered. He felt the arms around his back slowly release him and the stranger stepped back.

"Forgive me," the ancient one said, wiping the moisture from his eyes. "I was overcome by seeing you again."

The boy scratched his head as he thought back in his memory. "Again?" He looked confused at the man now watching him with a cautious eye. "Have we met before? You seem to think you know me, but I don't remember you."

The old man smiled again in a manner that seemed to indicate fondness, confusing the boy even more. "Duo." The name passed his lips in a warm, affectionate tone of voice. "This will be hard to comprehend, but I don't have much time to explain everything." Pulling back a long black sleeve covering his left arm, the white haired man looked at a rather large, bulky looking watch attached to his wrist. He frowned slightly and muttered, "I must hurry."

"Oh man," Duo slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand. "I'm late and Heero's gonna kill me. I've gotta go," he said apologetically and turned to leave, but he was stopped from leaving by the iron grip on his arm that pulled him none to gently back to face the frowning man.

"I'm here to give you a message," said the old man in a more serious tone. "A mission."

"A mission?" Duo questioned looking mildly perplexed. "From who?"

"Me."

Duo felt increasingly confused and he was becoming perturbed by all the cryptic lines the old man was feeding him. "Look." He began, only to be silenced by the other's interruption.

"I'm Wufei," the man stated with a steely look in his eyes, defying the teenager to disagree with him. "I came here from the future to warn you, to stop something from happening that will cause millions of lives to be lost."

Duo knew his mouth had dropped open at the statement. Now that he studied the old man's face, it did look like an older version of Wufei. Okay, a very much older Wufei. "Why? How?" were the only strangled words that managed to come out of his mouth, not sure if he believed the utterly fantastic statement or not.

"I don't have much time to go into it," the man rushed to say. "But in short, the scientists survived the war and escaped. Quatre, Trowa and I were so busy trying to help rebuild a devastated planet that we chose to let them go. It took us decades to help bring order out of the chaos caused by the portion of the battle ship Libra that crashed into the Earth's atmosphere and hailed down enormous chunks of debris that fell like bombs over an eighth of the Earth. That devastating battle ended the war between Earth, the Colonies, and White Fang and united those factions to begin the true fight...for the survival of humankind on Earth."

The old man's face looked haunted for a moment before he shook his head and cleared his thoughts, then he continued. "When we got wind of a new, potentially deadly experiment being secretly worked on in one of the colonies, I was sent to discover what it was and who was behind it along with their intended purpose. I found the scientists, very old men by then, working on a time machine. They had worked out most of the bugs by the time I found them, but with Quatre's funding of their project, we made it almost fool proof. My standing here before you today is proof that we succeeded."

"Why did you need a time machine and why did Quatre fund it?" Duo asked dubiously. He couldn't get over the feeling that this sounded like the plot to a science fiction book.

"Because we wanted, no...," he shook his head and began again. "We needed a different end to the war. We needed to change the past in order to make a better future for those generations that survived the holocaust that nearly wiped out the planet's population. After careful deliberations, we knew who could change the future and the person we needed to contact in order to change the events that led to the horror."

Duo's eyes widened. "Don't tell me it's Relena who's going to save the world." He looked aghast. Wufei shook his head. "Me?" his voice squeaked in disbelief.

"No, but you are the one person who can save him," the elderly Wufei told him.

"Who?" Duo's eyebrows rose in anticipation.

"Heero."

Duo forgot to breath. "Save him?" he whispered, afraid of what those words meant.

"Duo," Wufei's voice softened in preparation of what he must say. "Today is the day that Heero dies." The old man's face showed a great depth of sadness and his voice shook slightly with emotion as he spoke. The braided boy looked incredulous and in turn, the man in front of him watched him a bit nervously.

Suddenly, the wide blue/violet eyes lowered into a glare and the teen turned one-hundred and eighty degrees, surveying the room with a critical eye, his hands on his hips. "Okay you guys," he scolded. "I admit this is a good one. You really had me going there." He put his hands up in mock surrender. "Come on, I give up." His braid whipped around him as he searched again. "Guys?" he said hopefully.

"This is no prank Duo, and I've no time to prove to you my claim," the man claiming to be Wufei said, causing the boy to turn to face him again. 

Duo's eyes shifted back to the man and shook his head. "Please," he entreated. "I'm pretty well messed up from the war already." He tapped his head knowingly. "Don't make it worse."

"I'm sorry Duo, but I need to tell you quickly what is about to happen in order for you to save Heero."

The boy from L-2 was still skeptical, but he recognized the earnest look in the onyx eyes that now seemed so familiar. He nodded for the old man to proceed; he would listen to what he had to say.

"You're preparing for a battle today." Wufei began and Duo nodded his confirmation. "The plan will have the five gundams spread out to attack the oncoming troops and mobile dolls approaching your positions from various directions. You will be too spread out when it comes."

"It?" Duo's asked with one raised eyebrow.

"It was, or appeared to be, a spherical object acting much like a mobile doll. It went after Wing Zero, and we later determined that it was specifically targeting the Zero System. A particle beam burst towards Heero even as he raised his buster rifle to destroy it. When the beam from the sphere collided with that of the buster rifle, it caused an overload of Wing Zero's systems. We think the sphere's purpose was to absorb or retract the Zero system, making the gundam useless as a weapon and vulnerable to attack. We came to that conclusion when several days later the same thing happened to Zechs in Epyon. He died shortly after when his gundam was left defenseless and was unmercifully attacked by an enemy to both Earth and White Fang known as the Barton Faction. We came to believe that was the probe's original intention when it fired on Heero, to disarm him, leaving him defenseless, probably to be captured and used by the new enemy, but the power of the buster rifle interfered with its original purpose. Wing Zero imploded and Heero died instantly."

Duo grabbed hold of the cross that hung on the chair around his neck . "No, please....don't let it be so," he said in a strangled voice as he closed his eyes in supplication to his god. He couldn't lose another person he cared about. He opened his eyes when he felt his shoulder taken in a firm grip.

"I know how much Heero meant to you, Duo, that he was like your family. You must prevent this from happening." Wufei the elder ordered him. "Stay with Heero and destroy the sphere as it approaches. Do whatever you need to in order to save him," he said with a tone of desperation in his voice.

"Wufei?" Duo's glazed eyes searched the other's hopeful ones. 

"Yes Duo?" the other answered, seeing that Duo now fully believed him, though he could also see the words said of what was to come had frightened him, seeing his small frame begin to tremble slightly. "Heero," he whispered hoarsely, looking horrified at the thought of losing the person he was the closest to. 

Duo felt confused and frightened. He'd lost so many people that he had cared for, he didn't know what he'd do if he lost his best friend, even though he always knew it was a possibility given their occupation.

"You've got to pull yourself together, Duo. You can do this. You must do this," Wufei said firmly.

The braided boy nodded that he understood and, even as he took in a ragged breath, he began to visibly calm. "I have one question," he said, then looked a bit sheepishly at the old man. "Well, I have more than one, but you mentioned a lack of time."

"Quickly then." Wufei glanced at his odd looking watch with a frown.

"What happened to me in your future? You mention Quatre and Trowa, why not me?"

The old man's eyes closed for a moment and a look of sorrow crossed his features. "You died shortly after Heero," he replied sadly, and his composure began to slip again at the faded memory. "When he died, you locked your emotions and grief away. We tried to help you, but we were all grieving Heero's loss, though all of us kept fighting. You threw yourself into battles recklessly until your luck finally ran out. In a way, I suppose you committed suicide, and we were helpless to stop you." A tear escaped the corner of the old man's eye and trickled unheeded down the aged and slightly wrinkled cheek. "I've missed you, Duo," he choked out and his hand reached out to touch the boy's cheek, now stained with his own tears. "And I'd forgotten how alive and vibrant you were. Your eyes and smile..." His voice trailed off and he slowly removed his hand.

"So, I'm the logical pick for this mission because I don't have a future unless I save Heero." Duo stated his thoughts out loud as he wiped the moisture away from his cheeks with the back of his jacket's sleeve and felt a chill crawl up his spine at his own words. "If Heero lives, I live."

"By Nataku, I hope so," the elderly Wufei said earnestly, his hope for a change of the past visible on his face.

"I'll do my best Wu," Duo said as he straightened with a new resolve in his eyes. "I won't let Heero die today, or any day if I can prevent it."

"My time is up." Wufei said abruptly as a faint beep was heard. He quickly embraced his friend one last time, and as he pulled back, he kissed the boy on the cheek and placed something in his hand. "Good luck my friend. And please, live, for all our sakes."

With another couple of steps back to make sure the teen who was so important to the future of the earth was not caught up in the field, Wufei tapped a button on the bulky watch. 

Duo watched with wide eyes as suddenly, a blue static field of energy flowed from the small box Wufei's wrist. It surrounded the calm looking man who kept his gaze on the friend from his youth. He was obviously unhurt and unafraid of what was happening around himself. The field of blue crackled with an increase of power and grew more dense by the second, then it suddenly began to spin around the man encased inside the energy field. The ancient Wufei's form became blurred and distorted as the field picked up speed and spun furiously around him. Duo watched with awe as the spinning field noticeably began to sink in, collapsing into itself and taking Wufei with it. Several moments later, it became the size of a small ball. Then suddenly, with a loud snap and pop, it disappeared.

Duo blinked at the unbelievable sight. "Was that real?" he breathlessly asked himself out loud. Then he looked down at the object clasped firmly in his hand. Slowly opening it, he gasped silently. It was his cross, the one Sister Helen had given him. He made it a practice to never take it off, afraid he might lose it. He reached his other hand up to his neck, his fingers quickly finding the familiar metal; it was still there. He carefully slipped his own cross over his head and placed it in his open hand. He then opened his other hand to study them both, side by side. The same. They were exactly the same, he noted with awe. He then realized that Wufei had kept his cross as a memory of him all those years since his death. He was deeply touched by his friend's sentimental act. "Don't worry Wu," he spoke loud as he gazed at both crosses. "I plan to be around long enough to give you more than a few of those white hairs and wrinkles." With that said, he raised both chains of the crucifixes and placed them around his neck.

TBC


	2. part 2

Disclaimer: See page one of fic

To Change The Future

Part 2

By: Dyna Dee

Warnings: some angst

The Deathscythe pilot checked the systems of his gundam...again, something he'd done several times already as he piloted Deathscythe while bearing down on the target's coordinates. Yet on this final check, he did it automatically, without really registering the results as his mind wandered constantly back to his meeting with Wufei the elder. Taking a glance down at the system's panel, he mentally registered his sensors showing him the positions other four gundams flying in close proximity to him as they traveled in a tight formation through the dark of space to their target, a captured Earth resource satellite that was transformed into a military station storing and commanding mobile dolls.

"Duo?" Quatre's concerned face popped up on the Com board. "Are you sure you're alright?" he asked, his cerulean eyes probing Duo's face on his own visual screen.

Duo sighed. Quatre was definitely the worrier of the group. Yet in looking at his young-looking, blond friend, he felt a wave of relief course through him and a sense of happiness at the knowledge he now possessed that the kind hearted Arabian would survive not only this battle, but the war. "Don't worry about it Quatre," he told the other boy, trying not to let the empathic teen look into his eyes by avoiding the small camera in front of him.

"They didn't mean it," Quatre said in reference to the tongue lashing Duo got from the other three pilots for being extremely late for their strategy meeting held shortly before their departure for the impending battle. Quatre first became concerned for his friend during the lecture Duo received from the others. He watched as the braided pilot stood quietly before them, slightly apologetic, eyes to the floor and perfectly still while he took the verbal reprimand, without a smart retort. The Arabian also noticed the brightness in his friend's eyes as he chanced a looked at Heero, and that Duo's eyes shifted fleeting glances in Wufei's direction. The others had stopped their tag-team berating abruptly seeing and sensing something was different in Duo's response to them.

Though the four were curious, they let the matter pass and the meeting resumed with Quatre telling each pilot their battle positions and the form of attack they would carry out when they reached the satellite. They all turned to stare with disbelief once again at Duo when he voiced his reaction to the plan.

"No!" he said in a definite tone with regards to his assigned position in the upcoming battle. "I'm flanking Heero," he stated simply but firmly, indicating his mind had been made up.

Heero actually looked startled. "I don't need you flanking me Duo." His voice was curt, but not unkind. "We need you in the position you're assigned to."

Duo shook his head, rejecting Heero's statement. "I'm flanking you and you can't change my mind." His statement seemed to temporarily stun the other pilots.

Quatre spoke up quickly before the others could explode in anger against Duo's refusal to follow the outlined mission plan. "What is it Duo? Is something wrong?" he asked, feeling his friend's shifting emotions.

Damn his empathy, Duo thought. He ached to tell the others what had happened that morning but he knew without a doubt that they would think he was deranged and would make him stay behind, probably believing he had some sort of space sickness. No, he couldn't chance it; he had to stay next to Heero in order to protect him. It was easier to stay silent and let them try and guess what was wrong than to explain. He would tell them later, if there was a later.

"Just a feeling, a premonition," he replied with a weak smile.

Now several hours later and almost to the target, Quatre again studied Duo's face and body language along and his emotions as viewed through their Com unit, searching for the well-hidden truth behind the American's face. He could see nothing unusual other than a bit of nervousness, but he definitely felt Duo's anxious evasiveness. "Be safe," he told his American friend, vowing to keep an eye on him during the battle.

"You too." Duo have him a warm smile. "Well talk later, okay?"

Quatre nodded and smiled at the invitation, then the screen went blank.

Before they arrived at their destination, Wufei and Trowa also came on line to communicate their concern to him regarding his welfare. He casually shrugged off their worries with a smile and reassurances. As the battle drew near, it was obvious to the American that Heero was going to remain stubbornly silent; his friend had been openly unhappy with his obstinacy regarding his position in the upcoming battle.

Upon arriving at their destination, the five were met with waves of mobile dolls used as a defensive shield to protect the opposition's base of operations. Heero's gundam sped to the front, leading the attack and confronting the enemy in his usual head-on approach to battle. Duo kicked in his thrusters to follow as closely as possible without being a hindrance or distraction to his partner. After knocking off the first few enemy suits, Heero's face suddenly popped up on Deathscythe's Com screen. The serious Japanese boy's eyes silently studied Duo's face, his dark eyes speaking of his concern for his comrade. 

Duo gave him a small, reassuring smile, then his eyes shifted to his blinking board. "Heads up Heero," he warned as several mobile dolls approached Wing Zero. Heero's face turned from the camera and his visage blinked off the screen, leaving both boys to concentrate on the battle at hand.

As was their habit, Duo left his Com audio link open to the others so they could all hear each other as they fought, ready to help if needed or called.

"I hate mobile dolls," Wufei growled as his voice carried across the void of space and came through to the other four in their own gundams. "There is no honor in fighting a soulless enemy." They all grunted in agreement.

"Oh no you don't." Duo shouted at a new group of dolls headed towards Heero's location.

"To your left, Duo." Heero warned in his steely battle voice as shots from beam rifles came from his left. 

Deathscythe responded to his slightest touch and dove sharply, his shield deflecting some of the blasts that he couldn't entirely elude. In a matter of minutes he counted twenty enemy suits that had fallen under his scythe. The teen's sharp eyes constantly searched the space around Heero and himself, looking for the sphere his visitor from the future had described. Slicing through the middle of another dozen metal suits, he began to have doubts if what he had experienced that morning was real or not. Though he now wore two identical crosses to prove that it had happened, he hoped it was anything but real.

"What's that?" Trowa asked over the shared link. 

In order to orientate their positions while fighting in space, their target, currently the resource satellite turned battle station, was the focal point and considered down in their battle positions; Heavyarms was currently fighting in a position above Wing Zero and Deathscythe. Duo quickly scanned Trowa's position on his sensor screen, and from there looked for whatever Trowa had seen that prompted the question. There, he saw it; a small and fast moving object was coming from the opposite direction of the resource satellite. Clicking on the visual screen of that area while dodging an energy beam from a rather persistent doll, he had only a moment to glance at the approaching object. He instantly recognized it as the object ancient Wufei had described. Quickly noting Heero's coordinates as well as the probes and, as he sliced the doll in front of him in half, he worked out the trajectory of the orb and calculated it was definitely heading for Wing Zero.

"Heero!" he shouted, and hitting his thrusters, he moved to intercept his friend. 

It all seemed to happen so fast and yet at the same time in slow motion. Wing Zero finished off three suits and turned towards the direction of the silver sphere as it approached. Duo watched as the buster rifle slowly rose up, even as he spurred his suit forward at a reckless, desperate speed to stop what was about to happen.

"Let me make it." Duo prayed out loud, his voice desperately pleading.

"Duo, move back!" Heero warned as he had the object nearly in his targeting range.

The orb, which had appeared as a smooth metal ball with only an exhaust system visible behind it, suddenly began to split open from the middle. The growing crack revealed a red glowing energy inside, the building particle beam ancient Wufei had predicted would end Heero's life. The red intensified, leading Duo to suspect it was preparing to fire.

"Duo!" Heero shouted again in a sharp warning as he found himself unable to shoot down the threatening orb with Deathscythe too close a proximity to the Buster Rifle's firing range.

Suddenly, the red particle beam streamed out from the object and struck Wing Zero when Heero failed to fire on it. The Japanese pilot's initial gasp of surprise was followed by a scream of agony that was heard by his comrades as the beam enveloped the white gundam.

"No!" Duo yelled in dismay, then thrust his own precious gundam into the path of the particle beam even as it had began to change color and withdraw from Wing Zero.

"To Heero!" Duo shouted to the others as Deathscythe's cockpit filled with a red-gold, hazy static charge of energy. His own agonized, pain-filled scream began even as Heero's ended.

Moments later, a cold, icy static filled the black gundam as the system's warning lights grew bright, then faded, blinking out completely for a several moments as all the systems shut down. Then slowly, the lights on the system's operations panel began to pulse, weakly at first, dimly blinking on and off in an increasing steady and growing pattern as energy crackled both inside and out of the gundamium suit. Several tendrils of red-gold energy danced out of the interior walls of the cockpit and touched the unconscious teenager hanging limp from the restraints in the pilot's chair. The boy's body twitched slightly at the shocking touch and the pilot gasped. Silence and pulsing lights surrounded the boy trapped within the gundam even as a battle raged outside in the space surrounding him. He was unaware of the mobile dolls that raced to attack him as he remained unconscious, his gundam appearing inoperative and defenseless. He didn't see Trowa and Quatre fly to Heero's side, nor Wufei racing to defend him, attempting to intercept a blast from an enemy's mobile suit which hit the unmoving black gundam in the upper chest, sending it to flipping helplessly head over heels through the dark of space.

With his body slumped over, strapped into his pilot's chair, his head having fallen forward was resting at a slight angle, chin on his chest, only Duo's eyelids displayed any movement as his eyes beneath them shifted as he received flashing images of Zechs and Treize Kushrenada in his vision-filled mind. They were his true enemies, a voice whispered to him. He clearly saw Peacemillion crashing into a large battle station, and soon that structure was careening in pieces towards the earth. He saw himself and his friends in various situations, desperately fighting, and then the last memorable vision of himself in Deathscythe, lost inside a great ship, trapped as a wall of fire surrounded and crashed down on him, burning him inside his melting gundam. He screamed mentally, feeling the agony from a death that seemed destined for him. Another jolt of power that had snaked out from the control panel sent a shock through him causing a sharp, piercing pain in his chest, and it was at that moment that he had an overlapping vision, one in which he and Deathscythe melded together to become one, mutating into a new entity, the ultimate war machine. 

  
  


He first became aware of being cold, as he was so often in space. That feeling was immediately followed strongly by the predominate ache throughout his body and chest. He was dimly aware that there were others around him talking in urgent tones and that someone was touching him.

"His heart rate has stabilized." He recognized Trowa's voice and felt a hand on his horribly aching chest and one on the pulse on his neck. He was only dimly aware of the activity surrounding him as his jacket and clothes were removed and someone tended to what must have been superficial wounds on various parts of his body. As if from a great distance, he could hear his friends as they talked encouragingly to him. Sometimes he understood words and phrases and other times he couldn't discern the voice, much less the words, just vague murmurings. His eyes remained closed, his lips silent as he drifted in and out of consciousness, unable to respond verbally or physically to their questions or requests.

When at last he woke, or at least he was pretty sure he was awake, he forced himself to open his eyes, then blinked. It was completely dark. He lay on his side with his body aching, yet had a predominant feeling of being warm and safe. He let his eyes drift closed again, and the memory of the last battle came back full force. "Heero!" he said in alarm and tried to rise but was stopped by the pain that shot through his body. He clutched his sore chest and ribs by wrapping both arms around his torso, then was suddenly aware of not being alone, that someone was in the bed with him.

"On. Low light." A deep, groggy voice spoke from behind him, and suddenly, the lights from the ceiling came on and the room was dimly lit.

"Duo?" Heero's voice called out to him in concern.

The so-called God of Death's response to the voice was immediate. He choked back a sob of relief. He had succeeded, his mission completed; Heero was alive. 

Heero gently pulled Duo from resting on his side to lie on his back so he could study his friend's face. Watery blue-violet eyes met his friend's concerned scrutiny. Neither boy uttered a word, both seemed almost incapable of that communication at the moment, but their eyes relayed the emotions they shared of relief and gratitude that neither one of them had died. After a few silent moments, Heero lowered himself down and commanded, "Off." And the lights complied leaving them in darkness again. The Japanese teen gently pulled his friend to rest in his arms, into their familiar comforting embrace of Duo's back to his chest. "Sleep," he ordered the other gently. "We'll debrief in the morning."

The "debriefing" ended up being held in Duo's room as the Deathscythe pilot's body was too sore to move more than a few inches without causing him considerable pain. The other four pilots sat on his bed in spaces where Duo's body wasn't. He sat up, somewhat attentive with his back propped up by several pillows behind him. The other pilots watched him, concerned for his welfare. 

"I'm fine, guys." He assured them with a weak smile. "Just really sore." He had some electrical burns on his arms, neck and chest, which hurt like hell, as well as bruises on his shoulders from his harness, and also on his aching chest. Heero told him earlier that morning that his heartbeat had been erratic when they removed his unconscious body from Deathscythe. In fact, it had stopped twice on their way to the medical bay and they had to perform CPR in order to get it back and into a consistent rhythm. No wonder his chest hurt so much, he thought to himself.

Heero began their little meeting by speaking directly to Duo. "That was the bravest and most stupid thing I've ever seen you do, Duo. Would you care to explain what happed out there?"

The other three nodded in agreement, though a look of apprehension was apparent on their faces.

"Okay," Duo began. "Can you guys keep an open mind and not interrupt me until I'm done?" he asked, and was visibly relieved when the other pilots all nodded or muttered their agreement. With that assurance, and after taking a deep breath, the boy from L-2 related what and happened the morning of the battle, of his encounter with the elderly Chinese man claiming to be none other than Wufei. He repeated ancient Wufei's words of his past, the catastrophe at the end of the war that causes the people of Earth to suffer for decades and the people responsible for making a time machine with one purpose in mind; to come back to this time and save Heero in hopes of changing the outcome of the war. The four other pilots looked at the braided boy with expressions of shock and astonishment at his tale and of the description of the old Chinese man's request to keep Heero alive.

Duo proved to be a master storyteller. He wove the story for them, even though he was silently amused at the flabbergasted look on his friends' faces. In unison they displayed their skepticism along with their interest as the four hung on his every word. He waited until the moment was right to prove his story was true. "Look." Pulled out the two chains around his neck that disappeared down the front of his tee-shirt. The four teens all leaned forward to get a good look at the matching crosses. "He put this in my hand when he said goodbye." With emotion filled eyes he looked at the Chinese boy. "You had saved this to bring to me to prove I wasn't hallucinating. They're the same, the exact same cross," he said in a tone of awe.

Disbelief and wonder crossed the other pilots' faces as they looked at Wufei, trying to imagine the white-haired old man that had traveled across a life time to change the past. Finally Duo told them of the mission he had for him, and the reason for it. Then repeating the old man's words as he described the sphere and it's purpose. The other three pilots reached out and touched Heero in relief and reassurance as Duo described Heero's death in the other time line and how he had been instructed to stop it from happening.

"And that's why I was late for the briefing," the long haired teen said, and sighed deeply with near exhaustion from the effort it took to finish telling the story. "And why I changed my part of the battle plan. I needed to defend Heero, to keep him from being killed" he said with a yawn.

The four pilots sat with the look of astonishment on their faces. Wufei was the first to speak as he offered his right hand to Duo. "Mission accomplished." He nodded his head in approval at his friend's actions and shook Duo's hand with a firm clasp as soon the other boy's hand was placed in his.

Duo, for his part, smiled crookedly at the Shenlong pilot. "Thanks for trusting me Wu."

He then abruptly found Quatre pressed against his chest as he was warmly hugged.

"Good job Duo." Trowa said quietly and, as soon as Quatre sat back, he also shook hands with the braided teen.

The three moved back slightly to let Heero approach with his congratulations. But to their surprise the Wing pilot sat unmoving at the bottom of the bed, his dark blue eyes regarding his friend. "For better or for worse, you changed the future Duo." Heero said in a somber tone. "The rest of my life, however long it may be, is a gift from you." He then added in a sincere voice. "I thank you." 

Duo nodded his acceptance of Heero's words. He didn't need or want his friend's thanks, he was just happy that he was still alive.

"So we live through the war." Wufei said in a pose of thoughtfulness while Quatre and Trowa exchanged a smile that they would live not only past the war, but to an advanced age. 

"What happened to you in the other future, Duo?" Heero asked and brought everyone's attention back to the braided teen.

With an insouciant but painful shrug, Duo replied offhandedly. "I didn't make it. I died in a battle near the end of the war." 

There was a moment of heavy silence in the room as the other four took in the unwanted and heartrending information.

"But now that you've changed the time line, that can change too, right?" Quatre asked anxiously, his face looking pained at the thought of losing his friend.

"Man, I sure hope so." Duo answered with a forced snicker, trying his best to add a little levity to the conversation. "Wufei, the elder," he clarified. "Said that we were all affected by Heero's death, and in my.." He hesitated, feeling self-conscious suddenly at admitting his path of self destruction in the other time line. "Grief," he continued. "I acted hastily and caused my own demise by being careless. "He looked up with a trace of hope in his eyes. "I guess if we can keep Heero alive, I can avoid that scenario." 

The other four pilots exchanged a knowing look with each other, silently agreeing not to let those events happen that would take their friend from them.

Feeling the lingering concern in the room, Duo's face grew bright with a large smile, attempting to appear much more energetic than he truly felt. "Hey, let's celebrate," he suggested. "This is like a new birthday for Heero. How about some ice cream?" 

The somber mood was suddenly lifted. Quatre and Trowa left the room to obtain whatever treat they could find in the cafeteria. Wufei moved away from the bed and Heero left his place at the foot of Duo's bed to move closer to his friend. Dark blue eyes bore into the violet hued ones that watched him questioningly.

"What?" Duo asked, feeling nervous under the steady stare.

"Not to sound ungrateful, but if you ever do that again, put yourself in the line of fire to protect me, I'll cut off your braid off and strangle you with it." Heero threatened, his demeanor and voice spoke of his seriousness. 

Regardless, Duo smiled. "Unless white-haired Wufei comes for another visit, I'll try." That was as close to a promise as Heero was going to get from him.

The Wing pilot scowled at the weak reply, and Duo put his hands up as if in surrender. "Alright, alright. I'll try really, really hard." He smiled as he sunk back into the soft pillows.

"If ancient Wufei should come," Heero unconsciously pulled the covers up to keep his friend warm while he spoke. "Let me know. I'd like to see him as an old man." He had a smirk on his face as he turned to look at the slightly amused looking Chinese boy who leaned against the opposite wall with his arms folded across his chest, a half smile on his face.

Duo, having followed Heero's gaze, also smiled at Wufei. But as the moments passed, his smile faded as he returned his gaze to his best friend. "I'd rather you meet white haired and old Wufei the old fashion way, Heero. By living and letting him see you as an old man also."

The shaggy haired teen turned to look down at his tired-looking friend, his faint smile disappearing as he soberly replied. "Alright, Duo. But only if you promise to let that ridiculously long hair grow grey with the same aging process. I'd like to see all of us as old men, having enjoyed peace and a long life."

"I'm sure I'll contribute to a few of those grey hairs you're going to get." Duo chuckled, his statement including both boys.

Wufei snorted as he joined them. "I'm sure you will, Duo. That stunt you pulled yesterday might have given me a couple already."

With a smile on his face, the braided pilot closed his eyes for a moment, feeling a deep weariness steal over him. "How are the gundams?" he asked, yawning through the sentence.

"The Zero system is gone," Heero reported. "But it can and will be replaced. It's as if it was sucked out by the probe's beam .

"Deathscythe?" Duo asked tiredly with his eyes closed.

"It's in tact." Wufei spoke up. "I didn't see much exterior damage when we took you out of the cockpit. The system's lights were on, so I shut it down and told Howard's men to wait for you to look at it before they tried tweaking it."

"Thanks," Duo said, appreciating the effort his friend had gone to on his behalf. Then a new thought came to mind. "Do you think we should warn Zechs, or let him lose Epyon?" he asked, opening his eyes again. "It would certainly be to our advantage to have him out of commission," he added.

Heero chewed on his cheek at the idea, then addressed both boys "I don't like it," he began thoughtfully. "If we didn't create the sphere, and obviously neither did the Colonies or White Fang or Oz, is it possible that a fourth party is interfering. Do you know who developed and sent the sphere, Duo?"

The braided boy paused to think. After a moment, he shook his head. "Wufei did say something about a Barton Faction, but he didn't specify anything in particular about it."

"Could be Treize," Wufei suggested as an alternative. "He has knowledge of the Zero system, having designed Epyon."

"That's the most logical explanation, but wouldn't Zechs know about it if that were the case?" Heero asked.

"It's strange to think there's a fourth faction quietly waiting in the Wings," Duo said, his voice sounding more tired by the moment as weariness began to steal over him. He silently wished the ice cream would hurry and show up.

Wufei sighed. "We don't have the intelligence resources to determine who and what they are with the scientists on the run. If this Barton Faction designed the sphere, then the war get's thrown into an even more fractioned and unbalanced state, four groups fighting for what purpose and against whom?"

"Then it should be our mission to destroy the sphere when it appears again. Since it seems thus far to be their only line of offense, we eliminate it to keep this Barton Faction neutral in the war." Heero said resolutely. "Zechs is our enemy, but to this point he has been an honorable enemy, fighting us face to face in combat."

Wufei nodded. "He shouldn't be destroyed by a soulless machine, but in honorable combat with one of us. Then his death will have meaning."

Duo yawned deeply again. Feeling like Wufei was about to launch into a speech about honor in dying during a battle, he let his eyes drift close once again. The talk of justice and honorable death wasn't stimulating enough to keep the weariness he felt from washing over him. The two boy's voices faded as he pulled his covers up closer to his neck. He didn't hear the opening of the door just before the other two pilots stepped in, but was alerted by Quatre's familiar voice stating in a chipper tone, "We're back!"

Duo's eyes were instantly open and he carefully rose to a sitting position, wincing at the pain in his chest but, nevertheless, with a hungry look in his eyes. Heero and Wufei laughed at him as Quatre walked over to hand the boy in the bed one of the two large bowls of ice cream that he carried; Trowa carried a bottle of chocolate sauce as well as a tray with three bowls of the frozen treat for the rest of them.

"This was all we could scrounge up." Quatre said apologetically.

"Hey, this is great!" Duo said just before he put a large, over-flowing spoon of the cold dessert into his mouth. He then stopped and, catching the others' eyes, raised his bowl in the manner of a salute. "To Heero. May you have a long, happy life."

The Wing Zero pilot raised his bowl in response. "To friends and friendship," he replied, to which they all murmured their approval and dug into their treat.

  
  


TBC

Yep, I could have ended it here, but there really is more to come as something unusual is about to happen.

  
  



	3. part 3

To Change the Future

Part 3

By: Dyna Dee

Warnings and Disclaimers on first page of fic.

Duo awoke the next morning more than grateful that they had each been assigned their own rooms. His awakening mind registered his body was stiff and hurting as well as a throbbing headache which was only made worse a short time later when Quatre cheerfully entered his room to get him up. The bright lights that flashed on when his friend stepped through the doorway exacerbated the shooting pain behind his eyes, causing him to moan miserably. 

Quatre stopped short, falling silent at finding his friend very much awake and in considerable pain. Questioning the pitiful boy about his condition, Duo haltingly and in a small, tortured voice answered with clipped replies, giving Quatre more of an idea of what was wrong. Not only did his friend have a painful migraine, but almost every inch of the Deathscythe pilot's body ached from the strain and injuries from the battle two day's previous. He also discovered the braided boy was unable to get up from his bed on his own and desperately needed to use the bathroom.

Duo was thoroughly embarrassed that Quatre had to help him inch out of bed and slowly, agonizingly make his way to the bathroom. With a pillow over his head to comfort his throbbing headache and to shield his eyes from the bright light, his body trembled as his friend guided him to the bathroom and helped him accomplish what he needed to do, then slowly led him back to his bed. Once he was tucked into his bunk again, the blond Arabian looked down at him with deep concern and suggested he stay in bed another day.

Heero came in shortly after Quatre left to give Duo a couple of muscle relaxers and pain pills that would reduce his discomfort enough to enable him to rest more easily. It seemed to take forever for the drugs to kick in, and when they finally did, he cautiously got up from his bed and feeling no worse for it, decided to dress and join the others for lunch. His decision was easier thought of than accomplished though as it proved a painstakingly slow process to dress himself, his body still stiff and sore despite the drugs. He left his braid mussed from sleep because the idea of raising his arms and the pulling of his scalp when brushing it made him cringe. His tender, now slightly aching head would get a reprieve today.

With particular care to move lightly, his steps smooth and un-jarring, Duo made his way out of his room and to the mess hall, praying none of Howard's men would see him and give him their usual hearty greeting of a sound slap on the back. The way he was feeling, he was sure the traditional, overly friendly greeting would likely have him on the floor bawling like a baby. In what seemed like half a decade later, he found himself standing outside the mess hall door. Putting his hand against the wall, he leaned heavily on it and took a deep breath. "Damn but this hurts," he mumbled as he rubbed his bruised chest. He wasn't sure who performed CPR on him but, if it had been Heero he'd probably have broken bones. As it was, he was sure they were just severely bruised.

Carefully straightening, he put on his best face, knowing it was imperative he give a good performance today or the other pilots wouldn't let him go into the next battle that could come at any time. He sure as hell wasn't going to lay in bed while his friends went into any skirmish without him. With his practiced smile in place, he stepped forward and the mess hall doors swished open.

*****

Collapsing with a sigh into his pilot's chair, Duo Maxwell brushed the sleeve of his jacket across his forehead, wiping away the beads of sweat that had gathered there. He'd made it through lunch with the other pilots, doing his best to fool them into believing he was feeling much better. Yet in walking with them to the hanger, with the forced bounce to his step and animated gestures, he managed to drain away any energy he had left and now felt thoroughly spent. 

His eyes lazily gazed around the cockpit and an involuntary shudder shook his body. He was experiencing the same feeling he'd had when he first entered the hanger moments ago. As his gaze had moved up Deathscythe's form, a feeling of apprehension had shivered up his spine. He'd always respected the power of the black gundam and talked to it like a buddy when he was feeling lonely, so the feeling was unexpected to say the least. He wondered if the sense of foreboding he felt then could be attributed to the last battle, his subconscious working on overdrive remembering the burning pain that had been inflicted on him in the cockpit when he intercepted that particle beam meant for Heero. He frowned, knowing that he'd had never had this kind of reaction towards his trusty gundanium friend before.

He raised his hand and gently ran his fingers over the familiar control panel, momentarily dismissing the disquiet within himself. "How ya doing buddy?" he asked his silent partner out loud. "Let's check out a few systems. Then, if ya don't mind, I need a nap."

The diagnostic check on the two systems he checked took about twenty minutes to complete and the gundam's pilot was pleasantly surprised that everything seemed functional. He was relieved to find he only needed to tweak a little to bring them up to his own personal level of function. He sighed with a mixture of fatigue and satisfaction. Reclining the pilot's seat back to a more comfortable position, he dimmed the interior lights and let himself doze off.

As his slumber deepened into REM sleep, the boy's dreams began as dreams usually do, unimportant, unintelligible and soon forgotten. Then the dream scape changed to become more vivid and discernable. He could see himself in his gundam, chatting to it as he always did to dispel the silence and loneliness he felt when alone for long periods of time on a mission. Then, surprisingly, Deathscythe talked back, telling him of the status of its many systems and weapons. Instead of the usual warning claxon, the gundam spoke clearly in a metallic but resonating voice that echoed in his head, warning of an approaching enemy. Turning his eyes to the monitor, he saw a large number of mobile dolls heading his way. 

"Thirty five," the gundam announced.

Feeling a moment's hesitation about taking on that number without any backup, he scanned for the others. There, at the very edge of his scanning range he saw four mobile suits speeding towards him. 

"Now." Deathscythe's metallic voice commanded, and from what seemed to be of the gundam's own volition, the great fighting machine threw itself into the approaching wall of enemy suits. The green thermal scythe spun and slashed with deadly precision as the pilot willed. Duo laughed wickedly as one enemy after another fell with little effort under his gundam's quick and powerful hands. It seemed almost too easy and it thrilled the teenager as his gundam plotted and performed new strategies as the enemy changed tactics.

"Behind us." Deathscythe warned in a booming voice, and swinging it's scythe up and over his head, the blade came slashing down through metal, destroying the other suit. A second before it hit, Duo glimpsed the identity of his latest victim. It wasn't an enemy's mobile doll at all, but Sandrock.

"QUATRE!" Duo screamed in disbelief even as the scythe's blade followed through. "NOOO!" the braided teen cried out in grief and horror. Sandrock was floating in space, neatly cleft in two.

Deathscythe spun around and began to attack the other three momentarily stunned gundams.

"Deathscythe, NO!" The sobbing pilot yelled out to his traitorous gundam. "They're my friends, not the enemy." Frantically, Duo fought back the controls, cursing and pleading the entire time for the crazed metallic gundam to stop. Tears rolled down his horrified face as Deathscythe easily dodged Wufei's dragon arm and turned to shoot off a missile into the center of Trowa's Heavyarms. As his friend's suit reacted to the blast, Deathscythe did a flip and a spin, then using its thrusters and scythe, the self-acting gundam sliced the momentarily disabled gundam in half.

"Nooo!" Duo sobbed. "Heero!" he cried out in desperation, searching for Wing Zero. "It's not me. Get away, I can't control it."

He watched the visual screen as the two remaining gundams came together. He tried repeatedly to contact them on audio and visual, but found all communication systems blocked.

"Incoming enemy." Deathscythe warned as it turned to fully face the remaining two gundams, now coming towards him. With wet eyes wide with horror, he watched his gundam preparing a counter attack. Duo pulled and pushed at buttons on the consul then tried to rip out the wiring for the weapon's systems. He saw the green thermal blade rise, aiming at Wing Zero. "Nooo!" he screamed.

"DUO!"

He heard the voice loud and clear and felt himself being held by someone.

"Duo, wake up." The voice...it was Quatre's. Couldn't be, he thought in his confused state, Quatre's dead. Then grief over his lost friend came out in a strangled sob.

"Please, Duo. Wake up. It's just a dream." The familiar voice pleaded. The words offered a faint feeling of hope and pulled him more fully to consciousness until his eyes managed to open and he slowly realized his surroundings. His wet and blurred eyes blinked at his surroundings; he was inside his gundam and was being held firmly in a strong, comforting embrace.

"Thank God," he moaned even as he struggled to control the residue of grief he had been engulfed in within his dream.

"It's okay. Shh, just a dream," Quatre soothed as he held Duo and patted his back in an attempt to reassure him. The braided boy reached his arms up and firmly returned the embrace, convincing himself that his Arabian friend was indeed alive.

After several moments, Quatre pulled back to study Duo's face with deep concern. "You okay?" he asked.

Not trusting his voice, Duo nodded his head and wiped the moisture from off his face.

"Want to talk about it?"

The Deathscythe pilot moaned and hid his face in his hands, trying to gain some control over his emotions. "It was bad Quatre, and so...so real," he moaned.

"I heard you call my name as I was climbing up here to check on you," Quatre said. "I could sense you were distressed."

The braided boy nodded, and raising his head he leaned back into the pilot's seat and lifted his red-rimmed eyes to meet Quatre's sympathetic gaze.

"I....I dreamed I was in Deathscythe," he began. "It was like the Zero system was in him. He talked to me and we went into battle...as a team. He calculated the attack and executed it as I swung the scythe. I knew you guys were coming, but as Deathscythe made a surprised tactical move on a supposed enemy behind us, the scythe came down and went through...Sandrock." His shocked filled eyes focused on his friend, revealing to Quatre that he still haunted by the dream. "I killed you, Quatre." He paused and took in a shuddering breath. "Then Trowa." His voice was now a hoarse whisper. "I couldn't stop Deathscythe and he was about to destroy Heero when you woke me up."

"It was just a dream, Duo," the blond said as the hand resting on Duo's shoulder gave it a gentle squeeze for reassurance.

"But it was so real, just like the flashes of the future Zero gave when I was forced to pilot Wing Zero." Duo shuddered as his mind remember that day.

Quatre winced as he tried to block out his own memories of his nightmarish time spent in Wing Zero. He had created it, and under its influence he'd destroyed so much. The visions he had seen while piloting it still fueled his own frequent nightmares.

Shaking himself physically and mentally, the Sandrock pilot forced himself to take action. "Come on Duo, let's get out of here. I'm cold," he said to the other while taking hold of the black-clad arm and pulled the braided boy up from his chair.

"Easy." Duo groaned, his hand moving to his sore chest.

"Sorry." Quatre slowed, but still kept a firm hand on Duo's arm as they exited the gundam. The lack of gravity made it easy for them to push off and float downward to the viewing and working platform. The blond grabbed hold of the railing with one hand while his other still held his friend. With little effort, he managed to pull Duo over to the platform railing without too much jarring.

Heero floated down behind them from Wing Zero. "Everything alright?" he asked, noting the wrung-out look on Duo's face and Quatre's concern.

"Yeah, we're just cold," Quatre answered for the both of them. "We'll get some soup and tea to warm up." Duo stood at the Arabian's side and nodded his agreement but averted his eyes, avoiding Heero's penetrating gaze. Quatre covertly gave Heero the "don't ask, I'll tell you later" look.

"Come on Duo." The blond gently urged is braided companion towards the exit door. "I'm really chilled." With a brief nod aimed at the Japanese boy, he added. "See you later Heero." Then turning, he grabbed hold of Duo's jacket again and pushed off, propelling them to float towards the door of the hanger.

Heero thoughtfully watched the two until they disappeared behind the double doors, his back to the gundams. His position and intense focus kept him from viewing Deathscyth's eyes as they began to glow to a brilliant green, then faded to their normal, powered down state.

The two pilots sat silently at the table in the otherwise deserted mess hall. Each concentrated on the warmth of the soup as they slowly ate it and drank the tea as it warmed them from the inside out. Both boy's thoughts were of the Zero System.

Quatre stood and took up both trays, depositing the empty dishes into the waiting bin, then turned back to his friend who sat unusually quiet, staring at a spot on the table. "Do you want to go back to the hanger?" Quatre asked as he approached his friend.

"No, I...I think I want to go to my room for a little while," the braided boy answered looking unsure of himself.

"Come on then." The blond took hold of his friend's arm once again and gently helped him to his feet, well aware he was still in considerable pain. Together they walked side by side through the corridors of Peacemillion as Quatre led the way towards the crew's quarters.

They stopped in front of the door to Duo's room so that the braided teen could key in his security code. The door swished open and he turned to face his friend. "Thanks Quatre," he said sincerely.

"I'll tuck you in." The Sandrock pilot quickly brushed past the startled teen as he entered the private quarters.

With a long sigh the American ran his fingers through his long bangs, wondering how to send his helpful friend away without hurting his feelings. "I'm fine, Quatre. Quit hovering," he said in a grumpy manner to the boy now standing by his bed and folding back the covers.

"That's my job!" the other boy answered cheerfully as he fluffed up a pillow and motioned for Duo to move towards the bed.

With a surrendering shake of his head, the braided teen moved to his bed and let his friend guide him to sit down on the soft mattress. He was surprised by how adept Quatre was at removing his boots and jacket without causing any further pain to his aching body. In moments, he was eased back onto his pillow and covered up.

"Snug as a bug in a rug," the blond sing-songed with a warm smile, then sat on the edge of the bed.

"I don't think I ever understood that saying Quatre," Duo replied. "In fact, it's kinda creepy."

He didn't really feel all that tired and he certainly didn't want to dream again, but neither did he feel like carrying on a conversation or presenting his normal, cheerful smile. He opened his mouth and yawned, pretending to be tired.

"Sleepy?" Quatre asked, still smiling down on his friend. Duo nodded and let his eyes close to try and prove it.

"Want me to stay?"

"Umm...no need. I'll see you later, okay?" he answered lazily and reached up to pull his braid over his shoulder as he always did before falling to sleep.

Quatre recognized the signs of Duo's pre-sleep ritual and stood up from his place on the edge of the bed. He brushed the long bangs back from Duo's forehead. "Sleep well my friend," he said in his quiet, gentle manner. "I'll check on you later."

Duo nodded and saw the lights go out from behind his closed eyelids as Quatre moved out of his room. He waited for several moments after the door closed before he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He reached for a remote underneath his pillow and, after pushing a few buttons, triggered his music system. He found the steady syncopation of bass and drums to be comforting, filling the silence of his room, but he turned down the volume far below its normal decibel level so his mind could go over the events of the last few days to try and analyze why he felt so reluctant to return to his gundam.

  
  


"Duo." Heero's deep voice startled him out of his sleep. He sat up abruptly, then grabbed at his aching chest as his wide eyes met Heero's. The Japanese boy stood next to his bed with a glass of water and a couple of white pills in his extended hand. Slowly swinging his legs out of bed, Duo sat on the edge of it and took the offered pills and the water, then swallowed them down.

He hated the feeling of sluggishness he had from the long nap he never really meant to take. "What time is it?" His voice sounded gravely.

"Half past six," Heero replied while keeping an observing eye on the braided boy. He moved to the end of the bed and sat on the edge. "Are you alright, Duo?"

"Yeah." The slightly unfocused boy answered as he carefully bent over to retrieve his boots on the floor and began to slip them on. "I didn't mean to sleep so long." He stood and tucked his shirt back into his jeans. "Did I miss anything?" he asked.

"No, not much," Heero said, still analyzing his friend. "Trowa and Wufei went to eliminate what appeared to be scouts from the other two factions. Quatre's waiting for us in the mess hall."

Duo patted his head to make sure his hair was properly tucked in his braid. Noting it was messy, he decided it would just have to do for the time being. He managed to smile at Heero, knowing his friend would be looking for it as a sign that he was alright. "Well then, let's go. I'm hungry."

To the other two pilots Duo seemed much more himself during the evening meal. As they finished up, Heero asked how the system checks were going on Deathscythe.

"Well, I've got a few more to go," Duo said as he pushed a loose strand of hair behind his ear. "But don't worry, I'll finish them tonight in case something comes up tomorrow," he hurriedly added to assuage Heero's look of skepticism.

"Just do what you can Duo and don't push it, you're still recovering." Was Heero's reply.

"Nah, I'm just a little sore. I'm sure it'll be gone by morning." Duo brushed aside his friend's concern.

"Did you have anoth.." Quatre began but was cut off by Duo.

"I'm fine Quatre. Don't worry." He focused his violet eyes, blazing with a warning, on the blond boy, willing him to silence.

The Winner heir smiled nervously, getting the message loud and clear. "Ah...need any help?"

Duo flipped his braid forward, over his shoulder and inspected the plait. "Nah, you two should enjoy your evening. Relax and rest up, cause we don't know when the next battle will come."

And so it was that he found himself entering the nearly deserted and dimly lit hanger by himself. Since the majority of repairs had been completed on all the gundams, Howard's crew had retired for the night as they too didn't know when they next battle would come. When it did, it was usually followed by the long hours of patch and repair on the usually battered and damaged gundams. Rest, when circumstances allowed, was mandatory for all the workers aboard the Peacemillion.

With feelings of trepidation coursing through his body, Duo flipped the switch that turned on the lights surrounding Deathscythe and lifted his eyes to gaze upon the metallic face of his deadly partner. He had spent some time before his nap that afternoon thinking about this new feeling of foreboding he felt in regards to his gundam. He rationalized to himself that it was just a normal reaction to the last battle and to the nightmare he'd had that morning while sitting in his pilot's chair.

Taking a deep breath, he slowly walked over to stand in front of the black, gundanium giant. With a huff of resignation, he took the weights from out of his pocket and placed them on the floor and zipped up his flight jacket against the cold of the hanger. Bending his knees, he pushed upward, straightening them out and propelling himself up towards Deathscythe's cockpit.

Once inside, he flipped the overhead lights on and sat down in his chair, snapping himself into it so he wouldn't float about. Since the maintenance crew was gone for the night, the gravity control had been reduced to conserve energy. 

With a deep breath of the cold air that surrounded him, the braided teen began to let his fingers fly across the control panel, calling up the systems to begin the diagnostic analysis.

Six hours later, he collapsed back into his black, leather seat. "Done!" he exclaimed out loud in satisfaction. All of Deathscythe's systems were now up and functioning. Stretching his arms out in front of himself, he interlaced his fingers and stretched forward, then pulled them up and over his head, allowing the stiff joints to pop. 

"Well Buddy," he yawned. "Time to call it a night." The panel board suddenly blinked and beeped as he reached for the release of his shoulder restraints.

"What the?" Duo scanned the board, trying to figure out what was going on. He absently rubbed his still bruised and aching chest.

With a deep agitated utterance of disgust, the gundam's pilot began to switch off all the system. "Sorry fella, but I'm too tired to figure out what I did wrong. Guess I'm grounded until I do." The lights dimmed out as each of systems were shut down, the overhead lights were the last to go out. Slipping out of his restraints, Duo made his way to the open hatch.

Before he could exit completely, there came a sound from behind him. In the darkness surrounding him, Duo was aware that here was some sort of movement in the cockpit followed by a beep from the shut down systems. He instantly stopped from exiting and looked over his shoulder. "What?" A tug at his ankle caused him to look down. "Where did that wire come from?" he wondered out loud as he saw the long length of curled wire wrapped around his ankle. Instinctively reacting, his eyes closed automatically and flinched when the bright flash of light filled the cabin as the cockpit lights came up all at once, momentarily blinding him. He automatically flung his arm up to shield his eyes.

"Ah!" he cried out in alarm as he felt small whip-like objects striking at his body, thin, cold strands wrapped around his legs, arms, torso and neck. The lights went completely out once again, just as he was forcefully pulled, straining against the hold on him, back inside his gundam.

  
  


Heero entered the mess hall and was greeted by three of the other pilots. He'd gone to Duo's room but was surprised to find his friend was already gone.

"Letting Maxwell sleep in?" Wufei asked just before sipping his steaming cup of tea.

"He's already up," Heero replied as he walked towards the food counter.

"I haven't seen him," Quatre added.

"Me neither," Trowa offered. "I thought he was still working on Deathscythe when we came in last night. Maybe he spent the night there," he suggested. It wasn't an unusual occurrence for Duo to do just that if he felt too tired to make his way to a bed.

But the casually spoken comment caused Quatre to look up sharply from his plate. The others didn't know of the nightmare Duo had in Deathscythe the morning before, nor of Duo's apprehension that he'd felt coming off the braided boy in waves when he'd looked back up at his gundam as they left the hanger. Uncharacteristically, the blond speared several bites of french toast onto his fork and shoved them into his mouth. He then stood and quickly took his tray to the waiting bin for dispensing the dirty dishes. Swallowing the large mouthful of bread, he called back to the others as he made his way to the door. "I'm going to the hanger," he announced, then quickly exited the room. 

The other three exchanged curious glances and, knowing Quatre's penchant for understanding things they didn't, left their meals on the table and rushed after him.

Quatre must have run to the hanger because they didn't catch up to him until just before the entrance to the room that held the gundams.

"What's up, Quatre?" Heero asked, not even winded from the fast sprint.

"I'm not sure." His brows furrowed as if trying to decipher his inner feelings. He continued to walk towards the large door. "But Duo..." he began, but then suddenly stopped what he was about to say as the doors swished open and he stepped into the room. The other three watched as Quatre's eyes widened in horror and his mouth hung open. He clutched his throat and gasped for air as he looked upward to Deathscythe's open hatch.

Alarmed at Quatre's behavior, Heero followed the Sandrock pilot's line of sight.

"Trowa!" Heero pushed Quatre into the taller boys arms and turning, rushed to Deathscythe, Wufei on his heels. Howard's mechanics stopped working to watch with curiosity as the pilots raced towards Deathscythe, appearing alarmed.

The gravity field had been started with the morning shift in the hanger, causing both teens to have to scramble up the side of the large, black gundam. The hatch to the cockpit was open, and as they reached it, Heero called out to his friend.

Wufei came to stand behind Heero as they peered into the dark cockpit. A strangled noise, sounding like a plea for help came from within and immediately Heero reacted. His first step into the dark interior caused the Wing pilot to cry out in alarm as he was flung backwards into Wufei. The Chinese teen caught Heero and balanced the both of them until the Japanese boy could stand properly on his feet again.

"What happened?" Wufei asked trying to peer inside the dark cockpit.

"Some sort of electrical field." Heero replied while rubbing his chest finding it was numb and tingling from the shock. As an afterthought, he realized he was lucky the electrical jolt hadn't affected his heart. His eyes narrowed as he peered into the dark cockpit again. "Duo?" he called.

From his position behind Heero, Wufei raised his head to look at the face of Deathscythe, the eyes were not only glowing, but they were pulsing. When he looked back down, he could see the lights in the cockpit were slowly being brought up and that they too pulsed in the same rhythm as a slight hum that seemed to emanate from the gundam's power systems. Heero grabbed the side of the hatch, bracing himself to what he saw as the lights lit up the interior of the war machine.

"By Nataku, what in the...?" Wufei whispered in a tone of disbelief, voicing for the both of them the shock of what they were seeing. Duo's blue-violet eyes were large with panic on his white and drawn face. He sat in his pilot's chair, pinned to it by what looked to be multi-colored wires that seemed to have originated from the inside walls and systems of his gundam.

Heero peered in, studying the situation. He observed Duo's arms and lower legs were tightly bound to the chair by the various color and sizes of wire. His neck was encircled entirely by yellow wires that came from behind the chair and covered his skin from the base of his neck to the top of his jaw. The sound of Duo's breathing came out in rapid wheezes as he struggled to force air in and out of his lungs through the constriction around his neck.

"This would almost be funny if he wasn't scared shitless." Wufei said from behind the Wing pilot, his voice lacking any humor.

Heero put his hand out to his restrained friend, careful not to touch the electrical field. "Calm down Duo. Can you tell me what's going on?"

"Zero...in...Death...scythe." The panicked-looking teen's rasped voice called out his answer with great effort.

"That's not possible." Wufei countered. "You don't have those programs installed."

"Don't know." Duo gasped.

"The beam," Heero said after a moment. "The beam from the sphere was designed to remove the Zero system. When Duo told the story, I thought he meant that it neutralized it, but ancient Wufei said it was suppose to absorb or retract the system from Wing."

"But Duo threw himself into the beam." Wufei added. "If the Zero system had been absorbed into the beam and it was intercepted by Deathscythe..." His voice trailed off as his eyes met Duo's frightened ones. "Then the system was deposited in this gundam without the benefit of the discs that keep the program within its created limits."

"What does it want, Duo?" Heero asked.

"I...don't...know," he said, struggling to answer. "It doesn't want...me...to leave."

"Obviously." Wufei commented with slight sarcasm which earned him Heero's elbow to his ribs.

"What does it want with you, Duo." Heero asked.

"Don't know."

"Try talking to it."

"To Zero or Deathscythe?" the imprisoned boy whispered.

"I don't know, try both." Heero suggested.

After taking I a couple of strangled breaths, Duo began. "Hey buddy." His voice sounded small and tentative. "The um...systems checked out okay. How about letting me get up now so I can go get some food and sleep?"

There were a few clicks and beeps that emitted from the sound system as it came on. Then a female voice sang out, "No, no, no." Duo remembered the voice and line that came from a song he had in his music library he kept in his gundam. 

"Listen Deathscythe," he began again in a stronger tone of voice. "I can't stay like this for long. I'm starting to cramp up, I'm hungry, and I really have to go to the bathroom."

Again the response from the sound system was the same.

"Zero!" Heero spoke from the hatch, and in the raised lighting within the cockpit he could see the slight shimmer and distortion of the electrical field that separated him from his trapped friend. "You're hurting your pilot. Let him go." he commanded forcefully.

The sound of a male's singing voice came over the speaker in response to the order. "Go away little girl, go away little girl."

Wufei snorted as he tried to hide his amusement. He was met with an icy stare and quickly stifled it.

"Zero, Duo is an organic being." Heero turned to try once again. "He needs food, water and rest in order to continue to exist, much like the fuel and maintenance done to your machinery and systems so that you can continue to function."

The speakers emitted the sound of another, different voice singing, "I am everything you want, I am every thing you need."

Duo started to wheeze as the wires on his throat constricted.

"Zero, stop!" Heero commanded. "The wires are too tight. He will cease to exist if you continue."

The wires loosed slightly, and Duo took a couple of deep, gasping breaths. "Dammit," he swore as soon as he caught his breath. "This is so not funny." he said, still a bit breathless as he looked up at his two friend behind the electrical field with frantic desperation displayed on his face.

The two pilots continued to peer inside the cockpit, gripping the sides of the cockpit door in frustration, searching for a solution to Duo's dilemma. 

"What's going on?" Trowa's voice sounded behind the two as he climbed up onto the now crowded hatch door.

"Duo's gundam has a free-reigning Zero system in it." Wufei answered with a quick glance in the taller boy's direction. "And it seems to have a crush on him." Even as he said it, Wufei shifted slightly to avoid Heero's sharp elbow aimed at his ribs once again.

Trowa peered into the cockpit and saw for himself that Duo was being held down in his pilot's chair by electrical wires.

Wufei reached over and, with a finger under the Heavyarms pilot's chin, closed Trowa's slack jaw.

"What?" Wufei asked with one eyebrow lifted. "Never seen a gundam in love before?"

"How is this possible?" Trowa asked, ignoring Wufei's attempt at humor for the more serious issue at hand.

Heero began to explain about the sphere and the transference of power from Zero to Deathscythe. He finished by stating his own philosophy that somehow the system Zero system, empowered by the beam of the sphere and the power of his gundam's buster rifle, had produced an artificial, free-reigning intelligence housed within the black gundam.

While Heero was filling him in, Trowa kept his eyes on the braided pilot. "So what do we do to free Duo if his gundam won't let him go?" he asked the other two after Heero finished.

"I don't think we should discuss this here." Heero replied. "Zero's sensors will pick up our conversation. Duo?" Heero turned back to his friend. "Were going to discuss this elsewhere. Try to rest, or if you can't do that, talk to Zero and reason with it."

"You'll come back, right?" Duo asked nervously, his eyes looking enormous and bright.

"We'll return soon." Heero assured him, then turning, he motioned the other two to follow him down the front of Deathscythe.

"Bring back some food." Duo shouted after them. "I'm starving."

TBC


	4. part 4

To Change the Future

By: Dyna Dee

Part 4

Warnings and disclaimer on first page of fic.

A little more than an hour later, all four pilots returned to the hanger. Quatre, having recovered from the wave of fear and anxiety he'd picked up from the captive and panicked Duo when they entered the hanger earlier, joined Heero, Wufei as they made their way up Deathscythe to the open hatch at the same time that Trowa moved to the right leg of the massive gundam with the intention to key open a side hatch, opening a maintenance power panel. The three pilots peered into the lit cockpit to see Duo in relatively the same position he had been in before. A slight gasp was heard from Quatre at his first sight of his friend trapped in his pilot's chair by the many wires that seemed to come out of nowhere. He'd been briefed by the others of the situation, but it was another thing to see it. Duo's head was slumped over to his left shoulder while a slight snoring sound came from his slack mouth.

"Duo." Heero called out the other's name only loud enough to wake him. He repeated himself several times, each time raising his voice a bit more in volume. With a shocked snort, the braided head finally jerked up and Duo blinked with owlish eyes, taking in his surroundings and remembering his circumstances.

"We have food for you." Heero held up a box that contained a variety of food from the cafeteria. "Can you talk Deathscythe into lowering the electrical field?" he asked.

"I'll try," Duo yawned and blinked his eyes, trying to wake up from his short but much needed nap.

"Hey buddy," he called out, his voice groggy. "My friends have foo...fuel for my body. Can you lower the field so I can get it from them?"

A full, rich tenor voice boomed out. "No."

Duo shared a look of surprise with Heero. "I think it's getting better at narrowing down the words from my music in order to communicate." The Deathscythe pilot observed.

"Try again." Heero urged patiently.

"I'm hungry, Deathscythe." Duo entreated his gundam. "I need fuel to continue. Please, let me go." No response. "At least lower the field so they can bring the food in and I can eat." Duo's voice sounded more adamant and demanding. Still, there was no response.

"Are you deliberately trying to hurt me?" he asked the gundam. "We're friends, right? And friends take care of each other, just like my friends who brought me fuel to sustain me. Don't you want to be my friend anymore?" he asked, trying hard to sound sincere while he was embarrassed from the top of his head down to his socks to have his friends hear how he privately spoke to his gundam. Taking a quick glance outside the cockpit, he could see the three other pilots standing on the open hatch looking amused and skeptical.

"Five, four, three, two, one," came the sound of different singing voices counting down. After one, the electrical field went down and the wires on the chair and pilot tightened. With eyes wide with panic, Duo gasped for breath even as Heero entered the cockpit with the box in hand. 

Seeing Duo's distress, the Wing pilot quickly put the box down and pulled out a wire cutter from his pocket and moved to cut the wires from off his friend's neck. He managed to cut through one section, severing at least fifty small, bunched wires when, unbeknownst to him, a larger power cable snaked out from the side of the Com board behind him.

"Heero!" Quatre cried out in warning. "Behind you."

Turning to face whatever Quatre saw as threatening, Heero was briefly touched by the splintering cable, shocking him with several small electrical charges, not enough to harm him permanently, but certainly enough to stun him. Several more wires released Duo's legs and twisted together in the air to form a thicker cable that curled at the end to form a ball. That ball moved with force and pushed a stunned Heero backwards, out of the cockpit and onto the hatch to be caught by Wufei and Quatre. The electrical field immediately went up, separating them from their semi-conscious friend still inside. 

Wufei quickly determined the shock Heero sustained appeared to incapacitate his speech and motor movement. So he took it upon himself to take his place. Standing at the opening of the hatch, he began to intercede for his friend trapped inside. "Deathscythe," he called out to the crazed machine. "Your hold on your pilot is too tight. Let him go!" he demanded, trying to squelch from his voice any trace of fear that he felt for his Duo, still tightly pinned and struggling to breathe.

Suddenly, Duo slumped forward, wheezing and coughing as the wires slacked from their firm hold on his body to a slightly more bearable grip. "You almost killed me you stupid machine!" he rasped out angrily.

No response.

"Are you alright Duo?" Quatre asked over Heero's head. He had one arm wrapped around Heero's chest and his other hand was feeling his neck for a pulse. Finding a strong and steady heartbeat, he wrapped both hands around the Japanese teen, holding him until he could come back to his senses.

"I think..." Duo's answer was cut off as the gundam began to pitch forward, nearly tossing the three on the open door off the edge. Wufei and Quatre had the quick reflexes and a brief moment of time to grab the handholds on the side of the hatch and both held tightly onto Heero who looked up at them with a dazed expression, trying to comprehend what was happening. Then, after their feet completely left the hatch door to dangle over the hanger floor, he began to move. With the slowest of motions, he brought one of his hands up and took hold of another handle, supporting his own weight on the tilted gundam.

Duo sat stupefied at his gundam's movements, and found himself looking out the hatch and past his dangling friends to the floor of the maintenance hanger as Deathscythe appeared to be scanning for something. Then suddenly, he saw what it was Deathscythe/Zero was looking for. Trowa stood in front of an open power panel to the side of the gundam's right leg. As the others continued to dangle from the hatch door handles, Duo watched in growing horror as the gundam's arm reached down towards the Heavyarms pilot who was apparently attempting to cut the power.

"No. Don't hurt him. He's my friend." Duo shouted. "Trowa, look out!" he yelled loudly in warning.

Hearing Duo's warning, the Heavyarms pilot looked up, his eyes widening as the gundam's eyes glared maliciously at him. He saw the large arm coming for him, and he instantly jumped behind the leg, hoping that "out of sight out of mind" would apply in this situation. 

The gundam, having lost visual of his target, merely flicked the panel door closed with his large, gundanium finger; its closing click resounding throughout the now silent hanger. The gundam rose, scanning the hanger and immediate vicinity as it came to an upright position.

"So close." Quatre whispered in disappointment as his weight transferred from his hands back to his feet resting on the hatch door.

Wufei looked into the cockpit to check on Duo. The box of food they brought had rolled and smashed into the front, interior wall during Deathscythe's movements, yet still looked to be in tacked. Duo looked dishevel and unhappy. "What can we do to help?" he asked their captive friend.

"I suppose you should go away," Duo said, his voice flat and disheartened. "He seems to behave better when no one is around. Maybe I can talk him into letting me up for a while."

"Very well," Heero spoke up, looking like he was almost fully recovered from the shock the gundam had given him. "We'll go about our normal business and check back with you on a regular basis to determine your status," he said, giving Duo what appeared to be a conspiring, awkward-looking wink to let him know the words were for the Zero systems benefit, and that they were really going to work on a solution to this problem. So unnatural was Heero's gesture of winking, that Duo decided his friend had probably never winked at anyone in his life before and that, if he wasn't in such a strange and frightening place, he might have had a good, gut-busting laugh about it.

With a brief goodbye, heavy with concern and lingering worried glances, the three descended the black gundam to rejoin Trowa, now standing on the deck.

When Heero check back two hours later he could see that Duo had succeeded in convincing the Zero system into freeing him from the restraining wires that held him to his command chair. However, the sight before him was by far the most bizarre he'd ever seen. The Deathscythe pilot was indeed out of his chair, but hundreds colored wires that sprouted from the inside walls of the cockpit, independently reached out to touch the black-clad teenager who was still very much a captive. To Heero, it seemed the gundam was in a constant state of trying to reassure itself by those touches that its pilot was still there. Long, loose strands of brown hair gave the appearance of being suspended in air as the wires, wrapped around the tips, kept constant hold on the cautiously moving head; and the clothing Duo wore was pulled out at odd angles as the wires kept possession of the ostensibly-freed pilot. Even the stoic Japanese boy felt more than a little unnerved by the sight of his friend being constantly touched by the Zero system.

"Heero!" Duo called out as soon as he saw his friend standing in the open hatch, his voice sounding desperate.

The Japanese boy mentally shook himself from the shock of seeing Duo's present circumstances. "How are you holding up?" he asked.

"I've gotta get outta here." Duo answered emphatically as he batted at the wires, trying to ward off their touch as they reached out for his hands.

"Come up with any ideas?"

Duo shook his head, then with a wince and an irritated look on his face, he reached to the back of his neck and tugged on his braid. After some initial resistance, he brought the messy length forward, holding it in his grasp. "Stop pulling my hair," he snarled at the wires behind him, then returned his focus on his friend. "I'm gonna lose my friggin mind if it doesn't leave me alone," he warned, his eyes shifting rapidly in agitation at the constantly moving wires.

"It's alright," Heero said in trying to soothe the agitated boy. "Calm down Duo. We're working with Howard to see what we can do. Why is Zero so...infatuated with you?" he asked.

"I don't know, but I think it's gone through my personal log entries. Sometimes, on long solo missions, I talk to Deathscythe like a friend," he told Heero, lowering his eyes in embarrassment believing the other pilot would look at him as being weak. "I do it to hold back the loneliness of space. I think, maybe, that it's taken on a personality based on my need for companionship."

"That's possible with the free-based, interactive system that Zero has become." Heero replied thoughtfully. "Has it given you visions of the future or of your enemies."

Duo's eyes widened and he gave Heero a horrified look. "No, oh no, Heero." he replied in a voice filled with despair and disbelief. "The dream I had was from Zero. I...I killed Quatre and Trowa, and you were next."

Duo suddenly lunged towards the cockpit door, desperate to escape, only the wires latching onto his arms and legs simultaneously stopped him from colliding with the electric shield just inside the hatch. "Don't go into battle with me Heero. Stay clear of Deathscythe. I won't be able to control it and it will kill all of you," he begged. "Ask Quatre, I told him about the dream."

Heero nodded, his brows pulled together in thought and concern.

"Let go!" Duo yelled angrily as his arms fought against the many wires touching and holding onto him.

Suddenly the wires worked in unison once again as they bound together, wrapped strategically around the lean boy, and pulled Duo helplessly back into the pilot's chair. Duo yelled and screamed at his gundam in protest, straining his whole body against the wires holding him in the pilot's chair once again, but to no avail. Finally he stopped struggling, his chest heaving from his efforts and frustration.

Heero looked on feeling helpless, something almost foreign to his nature. His fists were clenched tightly at his inability to help his friend.

"What can I do?" he asked the restrained teen.

Duo took a moment to take a few deep breaths and calm himself. Then looking at Heero with an expression of resignation he answered. "How about some blankets, a pillow and a change of clothes? And more food," he added as an afterthought. With a look of defeat he said, "Looks like I'm gonna be here for awhile."

And so a pattern of visits began as each of the other four pilots, Howard and some of the men who knew Duo well came regularly to visit with him, bringing something in hand for their friend. Every two hours they climbed the gundam and talked through the open hatch to the captive teen. Meanwhile, Duo had been able to cajole the gundam into tapping into his DVD collection so he could watch some movies to pass the long hours. Fortunately, he had a good selection on board, and he even watched several at the same time. He also listened to the music he'd stored during the time he was on Earth. He had an extensive library of rock, techno and classical music, his personal preferences.

After three days though, the confinement was wearing thin and Duo's temperament deteriorated to a constant stream of curses, ranting and whining.

"I want out of here and I want a shower!" he shouted to the walls of the gundam. "My hair is dirty as well as a knotted mess and that's not okay! Now let me outta here."

Trowa's head peeked over the open hatch to see the irate and agitated pilot fighting the wires that seemed to be reaching out in an attempt to him to reassure and calm its prisoner. As another set of wires reached out to take hold of his arm, Duo shouted. "Leave me the hell alone!"

"Duo." Trowa's soothing voice called out, and his friend turned with wide, panicked eyes in his direction.

"Please Trowa, get me outta here. I can't take it anymore. I want a shower, a bed, to walk, some human touch." His facial features were pinched and strained as he pleaded for help and there were dark circles under his eyes showing just how little sleep he was getting.

"I know, Duo. I know." Trowa kept his voice low, his tone soothing and understanding. "Everything we've tried has failed. Zero is hypersensitive to our movements and always seems to be one step ahead of us."

"Then get Heero's buster rifle and destroy us." Duo demanded. "Blow us right out of Peacemillion."

Trowa was taken aback. Duo's voice and demeanor showed that he was serious. He shook his head in response. "No." he answered in the same tone.

Duo's eyes narrowed on him. "You'll have to do it anyway or Zero will destroy you. It showed me the future, Trowa, and in it I killed you and Quatre. Do you want that to happen?"

"You won't let that happen," The Heavyarms pilot answered with a quiet conviction.

"Trowa, listen to me," Duo pleaded with him earnestly. "I won't be able to stop it. You have to stay away from me and help Heero to do what he must to protect you, all of you."

Trowa shook his head in denial of Duo's claim and idea of a solution. "There's got to be another way. I won't accept it. Besides," he looked into his friend's troubled eyes. "Zero shows possible futures, it's not necessarily what will happen. Each of us saw different futures while under Zero's influence, not all of which happened because someone, or even ourselves, stopped it from happening." Studying the face of the boy from L-2, Trowa could see the desperate struggle that went on in the his mind. Then Duo closed his eyes.

"Sweet Mary, Mother of God I hope your right," he said as he pulled his hand free of restraining wires and touched his cross in a quick, silent prayer that what his friend said was true.

"Have faith Duo. We'll do all we can to protect you and ourselves."

"Thanks Trowa." Duo opened his eyes again. "You're a good friend."

The Heavyarms pilot was satisfied to see Duo calming, the panic in his eyes faded slightly to be replaced by a more hopeful look. He left a short while later after talking Duo into taking a much needed nap. He watched his friend curl up in his chair with his pillow and blanket and drift into a fitful but much needed sleep; the red, blue, black and yellow wires gently touched his hair and clothing lightly, hovering protectively over the slumberer.

An hour later, the battle claxon sounded on all levels of the ship.

Duo was in the process of getting into his flight suit when Heero stepped up onto the hatch door. The long-haired teen had just popped his head through the blue turtleneck shirt when he heard his name called. He reached for his flight jacket and approached the opening. Slipping an arm into a sleeve, he met Heero's dark eyes. The two stared wordlessly at each other for a moment before the Perfect Soldier broke the silence.

"We believe this is the battle you mentioned where the sphere takes the Zero System from Epyon." Heero told his friend. "Howard managed to get us as close as possible to the site of the battle between White Fang and the Earth's forces. Since you're gundam is the only one with the quick reflexes of the Zero system, your battle objective is to destroy the sphere, to protect Zechs from it. The rest of us will protect your flank and be your backup."

Duo nodded, his eyes boring into the dark blue ones. "Just stay away from Deathscythe, Heero. If I show any aggression towards the gundams, use your buster rifle."

Heero stood silent, and momentarily closed his eyes in coming to terms with the possibility of killing his closest friend. When his eyes opened, it was to see his friend waiting for some response, he replied simply, "I'll do what I have to."

"Be careful." Duo tried to smile, but sadly, he only managed to look grim.

Heero nodded. "Wear a helmet in case all hell break out and the hull is compromised," he ordered. Then with a slight, crooked smile he added. "Give them hell, Duo."

A real smile managed to appear on the Deathscythe pilot's face. "I always do," he replied honestly.

With a wave of his hand, Wing's pilot closed the hatch to the black gundam and pushed off the open door and, using the almost non-existent gravity in the hanger, he jumped over to his gundam docked beside Deathscythe.

Duo zipped up his jacket. "Alright Buddy," he spoke now with familiar fondness to his companion in war. "Let start things up and cook some White Fang and Oz ass."

He took his seat in the pilot's chair as the system's board lit up. The days of mental torture while trapped within the gundam quickly faded as the hum of Deathscythe's systems and engines starting up brought back feelings so familiar and routine, that it once again felt so right. He also noticed as the systems came fully on line, that the wires that had pestered and kept him prisoner had disappeared, and the electrical field that had kept him in and his friends out had also vanished.

Securing the harness snugly against his body, all lights on the system's board turned green. Flipping on the COM board, he addressed the others. "02 ready to wreak havoc and destruction."

"Roger that." Heero's voice came across the system loud and clear, his tone serious as he went into battle mode. The Japanese boy's face then flashed onto the view screen for a visual check of his friend's physical state.

"You lead Duo. I'm sending you the coordinates of where White Fang's force is concentrated. Find Zechs as soon as possible. We'll follow behind you." Heero's head bent down as he transferred the necessary information to Deathscythe.

"Got it." Duo announced as a yellow light flashed as his computer accepted the transfer. "I'll see you guys there." He cut visual and, feeling the restraining cables that held his gundam to the walls of Peacemillion release its hold, he moved Deathscythe towards the hanger's opening doors.

Twenty minutes later, Duo found himself at the edge of Zechs' rebel army. He threw himself forward, towards the battle in progress in hopes of catching sight of the red gundam called Epyon. Deathscythe entered the fighting field, fought between the two opposing sides of White Fang and Oz. Deathscythe/Zero seemed to be in complete control of itself, efficiently anticipating the movement and attacks of the enemies surrounding or advancing on him. In his wake, he left behind a metal graveyard of splintered pieces of hacked-up mobile dolls and suits, evidence of the Zero System's superior fighting abilities. Duo shivered as he recalled a similar vision he'd received days previous.

Looking down as the sensor board beeped, Duo observed a new entity had entered the foray. "Zechs," he hissed. Enemy or not, the braided American was determined to protect his enemy from the sphere, that was his mission. Deathscythe/Zero changed course to intercept Epyon while Duo scanned the area for the small, round object. His computer scanning systems showed the four other gundams fighting in his wake, keeping out of striking range, but countering any attacks coming toward themselves or Deathscythe.

"There!" Duo's eyes narrowed. Behind Zechs was a fast moving but small object that seemed to be approaching the White Fang leader. "There's our objective Zero," Duo said out loud. "Intercept!" 

Zero complied, racing ahead, while its pilot slashed down any who opposed or got in their way. Duo switched on the COM system and the other four pilots stern faces flashed on the screen. "Epyon and the target are about to become intimately acquainted; follow me at a distance," he warned them. They each acknowledged and the screen went blank.

"It's up to us to change the future old buddy," he said to his deadly war machine. As if prearranged, the sound system came on. The long haired teen smiled as he recognized the song Zero had chosen. "Let's show White Fang and Oz that gundams aren't to be treated lightly," he said as the lyrics of one of his favorite, rowdy rock songs boomed through the cockpit.

  
  


Well we don't need no one to tell us what to do.

Oh yes we're on our own and there's nothing you can do,

cause we don't need no one like you - to tell us what to do.

  
  


Duo knew the 20th Century song well, it had been one of his favorites in previous battles. And as he and Deathscythe flew toward their goal, he joined in the chorus.

  
  


Cause I'm a brat and I know everything and I talk back,

cause I'm not listening to anything you say.

And if you count to three (one, two, three), You'll see it's now an urgency

You'll see I'm not the enemy,

Just a prisoner of so-ci-ety, so-ci-ety, so-ci-ety.

  
  


The guitar wailed fast and furious, seeming to follow his thoughts and heartbeat even as he got a visual sighting of the red gundam turning to face him as he approached.

  
  


We all refer to the past when showing what we've done

The generation gap means the war is never won

The nasties in your head, the futures in our hands.

  
  


"Intercept the sphere, not Epyon." Duo ordered Deathscythe, hoping it would comply. It changed course and veered to the right of the seemingly stunned red suit. He turned on the com systems and the music automatically lowered in volume.

"Hey Zechs." The braided pilot hailed the pilot of Epyon. "You've got a greater enemy than me on the battle field today," he informed the other pilot on an audio channel only. "It's the sphere behind you. Withdraw from the battle and we'll destroy it."

Zechs' frowning face blinked onto the screen. "Why would you help an enemy? Is this some kind of trick?" he snapped back.

"The sphere removes the Zero System from the gundam and leaves the pilot defenseless, open to attack. Wing Zero was attacked last week, but we decided you deserved an honorable death, not the sneaky, suck-the-life-out-of-you death some other person or organization has in mind for you. If we take you out, it will not be done by dirty tricks and you'll receive a true soldier's death in a clean battle." 

"Why should I believe you?" Zechs asked suspicious of the gundam pilot's motives.

"You don't have to," Duo replied calmly. "Just get the hell outta my way." 

Even as the silent static of space came over the system and the Epyon pilot paused to think, Duo raced towards the approaching sphere. His eyes widened as a red crimson light began to grow from the center of the orb. "It's about ready to fire," he shouted out. "Quick move your gundam out of its range, behind me," he shouted out to the Epyon pilot. Duo's heart beat furiously as he pushed his machine forward, he was almost there.

"Duo!" several of is friends called out through the COM in worry for him as he flung his mighty suit into the targeting zone of the sphere. This time he was able to do for his enemy what he hadn't initially accomplish for his best friend, he completely intercepted the beam as it shot out towards Epyon.

The red beam filled the cockpit, and Duo screamed as pressure, heat and electricity surrounded and seemed to consume him, and he felt the invisible fingers of the Zero System reach out to touch him as his gundam reacted to the beam's jolt of power. He felt like his nerve endings were being set on fire as the cockpit was filled with the glowing color of blood. Then as quickly as it had come, the brightness and shocking pain were gone, leaving the braided pilot slumped over, unconscious in his chair. The board of the gundam's systems dimmed, then flicked on low, displaying that the systems were on emergency back up.

Duo was still slumped over and completely unaware when Heero finally broke through the COM system and visually surveyed the damage to the pilot within the gundam floating dead in space. "Hold on Duo." He strongly urged his friend, his voice tinted with a trace of fear as he and Quatre took hold of the black gundam and raced back to Peacemillion. Trowa and Wufei followed, guarding their retreat even as Zechs ordered his troops to back away from the retreating gundams.

**** 

Duo woke with a gasp and clutched his sore chest. "Not again," he moaned.

"Sorry." Heero's voice spoke from a close proximity. 

Duo forced his eyes open. "Man, feels like you busted a rib or two this time." He complained in a strained voice.

"But you're alive and out of your gundam." Heero reminded him. The boy in the bed visibly relaxed though his face was pinched with pain.

"You're right," he murmured. "What happened?"

"In saving Zechs, the sphere drew the zero system out of Deathscythe. Once again, you received some kind of electrical shock that caused your heart to beat erratically. We barely got you out in time. And Zechs, seeing that you put yourself in the line of fire for him, went after the probe and destroyed it. Seems it was designed to absorb only one Zero system at a time. It was helpless to defend itself against a second system that it couldn't absorb. He also stopped the battle so we could remove you from the battlefield."

"I hate owing him a favor." Duo said in a sour tone.

"You don't," Heero replied. "You saved him and he let us save you. All is even."

Duo surveyed the room he was in. It was the familiar emergency medical room on Peacemillion. With a glance down he saw he was in a blue patient's gown with several blankets laying on top of him. Heero sat in the chair next to his bed, still dressed in his flight suit. "I never thought I'd be so happy to be in this room and in this much pain," he chuckled, wincing at the sharp pain it caused and then turned his eyes to his friend. "It might be a little difficult for me to get back into Deathscythe again," he said in all truthfulness, his eyes showing his trepidation at the mere idea of doing so.

Heero nodded his understanding. "I'll be with you when that time comes, and so will the others." 

"Time." Duo said reflectively.

"You've managed to change the future twice now." Heero said with a smile that showed he was proud of him.

"And you have the chance to change it also," Duo said in a sober tone of voice. Heero raised his eyes in question. "Live." Duo said earnestly. "Save me by living through this war. You're my friend, Heero, the only family I have other than the rest of the guys. If you die, I have no doubts my future will be as ancient Wufei said. I can't bear the idea of losing anyone else that's close to me. I don't think I can survive another loss like that."

"Shh." Heero shushed him, not liking to see his friend upset. He put a reassuring hand on Duo's shoulder and looked into his friend's searching eyes. "Somehow, I'll do it. I'll live," he said with the confidence he always had when taking on a mission, his eyes showing he was deadly serious. 

Knowing what a tenacious fighter Heero was, Duo knew he always set out with dogged determination to finish whatever mission he'd accepted. And after a few moments of contemplating the promise, both friends smiled at each other, knowing instinctively that the future had been changed yet again.

End

Song by the Living End, a great (what I call a punk-a-billy) group from Australia.


End file.
